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TheLionWithin.Us: Navigating AI Through a Biblical Lens

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Week 3: Navigating AI With Wisdom

An Attitude of Gratitude

New Testament Field Guide

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch36" data-usfm="2CH.36">
 <div class="label">36</div><div class="nb"> 1And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.</div><div class="s1">Jehoahaz King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 2Jehoahaz#36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4 was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents#36:3 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons of silver and a talent#36:3 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of gold. 4The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim&#8217;s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim&#8217;s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.</div><div class="s1">Jehoiakim King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 7Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple#36:7 Or palace there.</div><div class="p"> 8The other events of Jehoiakim&#8217;s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.</div><div class="s1">Jehoiachin King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 9Jehoiachin was eighteen#36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin&#8217;s uncle,#36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17) Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.</div><div class="s1">Zedekiah King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God&#8217;s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.</div><div class="s1">The Fall of Jerusalem</div><div class="p"> 15The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16But they mocked God&#8217;s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,#36:17 Or Chaldeans who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord&#8217;s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19They set fire to God&#8217;s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.</div><div class="p"> 20He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.</div><div class="p"> 22In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkDAN">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="DAN.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Daniel&#8217;s Training in Babylon</div><div class="p"> 1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia#1:2 Hebrew Shinar and put in the treasure house of his god.</div><div class="p"> 3Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king&#8217;s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility&#8212; 4young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king&#8217;s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.#1:4 Or Chaldeans 5The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king&#8217;s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king&#8217;s service.</div><div class="p"> 6Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.</div><div class="p"> 8But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10but the official told Daniel, &#8220;I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your#1:10 The Hebrew for your and you in this verse is plural. food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12&#8220;Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.&#8221; 14So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.</div><div class="p"> 15At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.</div><div class="p"> 17To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.</div><div class="p"> 18At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king&#8217;s service. 20In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.</div><div class="p"> 21And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkDAN">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="DAN.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Nebuchadnezzar&#8217;s Dream</div><div class="p"> 1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers#2:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 4, 5 and 10 to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3he said to them, &#8220;I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.#2:3 Or was&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Then the astrologers answered the king,#2:4 At this point the Hebrew text has in Aramaic, indicating that the text from here through the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic. &#8220;May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5The king replied to the astrologers, &#8220;This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Once more they replied, &#8220;Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Then the king answered, &#8220;I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The astrologers answered the king, &#8220;There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.</div><div class="p"> 14When Arioch, the commander of the king&#8217;s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15He asked the king&#8217;s officer, &#8220;Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?&#8221; Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.</div><div class="p"> 17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20and said:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;</div><div class="q2">wisdom and power are his.</div><div class="q1"> 21He changes times and seasons;</div><div class="q2">he deposes kings and raises up others.</div><div class="q1">He gives wisdom to the wise</div><div class="q2">and knowledge to the discerning.</div><div class="q1"> 22He reveals deep and hidden things;</div><div class="q2">he knows what lies in darkness,</div><div class="q2">and light dwells with him.</div><div class="q1"> 23I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:</div><div class="q2">You have given me wisdom and power,</div><div class="q1">you have made known to me what we asked of you,</div><div class="q2">you have made known to us the dream of the king.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Daniel Interprets the Dream</div><div class="p"> 24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, &#8220;Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, &#8220;I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), &#8220;Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27Daniel replied, &#8220;No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:</div><div class="p"> 29&#8220;As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.</div><div class="p"> 31&#8220;Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue&#8212;an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.</div><div class="p"> 36&#8220;This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.</div><div class="p"> 39&#8220;After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron&#8212;for iron breaks and smashes everything&#8212;and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.</div><div class="p"> 44&#8220;In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands&#8212;a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.</div><div class="p">&#8220;The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47The king said to Daniel, &#8220;Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 48Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49Moreover, at Daniel&#8217;s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkTIT">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="TIT.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God&#8217;s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness&#8212; 2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 4To Titus, my true son in our common faith:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.</div><div class="s1">Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good</div><div class="p"> 5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint#1:5 Or ordain elders in every town, as I directed you. 6An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe#1:6 Or children are trustworthy and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7Since an overseer manages God&#8217;s household, he must be blameless&#8212;not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.</div><div class="s1">Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good</div><div class="p"> 10For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach&#8212;and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12One of Crete&#8217;s own prophets has said it: &#8220;Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.&#8221;#1:12 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides 13This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.</div>
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